THE decision by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to refuse T'Gallant's ambitious restaurant expansion plans has implications for planning policy across Victoria, says Mornington Peninsula Shire senior planner Ray Webb.
The Main Ridge restaurant, owned by brewing and wine giant Foster's Group, lost its bid to increase seats from 60 to 274, plus 40 cellar door patrons, on February 11 when the VCAT ruled that its plan was of a "scale and intensity [that] cannot be supported" on the small green wedge site – 15.8 hectares in Mornington-Flinders Road.
T'Gallant also sought to increase parking from 41 to 171 spaces and to operate a function centre. Both were knocked back.
The shire's manager of statutory planning Ray Webb stated the VCAT "has left the door open for applicants to pursue amendments to existing planning permits, and seek approval to expand a use which is otherwise restricted by the current provisions of the planning scheme".
The tribunal ruling opens the way for companies to apply for prohibitive use facilities.
Following the VCAT decision, the shire advised the Department of Planning and Community Development of the policy implications of the decision.
The shire would be making a further submission to the Government's review of the Planning and Environment Act, Mr Webb stated.
It was also reviewing the legal and strategic implications of the VCAT decision.
The tribunal rejected the specific plans of T'Gallant, but this does not mean the restaurant cannot submit new plans to the shire and ultimately to the VCAT if the shire says no again.
Fos ter's Group spokeswoman Liz McLachlan stated in a media release last week that "T'Gallant would continue to work on finding the right solution to improve its facilities" following the decision. "[The] VCAT has turned down T'Gallant's current proposal but has left the door open for the Main Ridge vineyard, cellar door and restaurant to submit a new proposal," she stated.
The tribunal found that as T'Gallant's trattoria, La Baracca, already had a permit and was established when the green wedge zoning was introduced, it had the right to apply for an amendment to its existing permit that was not necessarily subject to the restrictions in the current planning scheme and green wedge zone requirements.
T'Gallant's venue manager Anna McAlaney said the company was delighted the door was open to continue to work with the shire and the local community to "find the right solution for the iconic vineyard site".
"We want to improve our kitchen, improve traffic safety and wastewater management, and protect our visitors from sun. We need to upgrade our facilities to ensure we can look after our guests properly," she said.
Ms McAlaney said T'Gallant would review its position and consider its options for the site.
The shire has not yet said if it would pursue T'Gallant for $1145 of unpaid fines for having more diners on site than permitted.
Mayor David Gibb, a strong advocate of protecting green wedges, was not available for comment as he was attending a climate change conference in South Australia.
There are a number of winery restaurants in peninsula green wedge zones that were established before protection policies introduced in 2002. Restaurant owners and managers will be watching the T'Gallant case with great interest.
Foster's Group has until March 10 to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court, but is equally as likely to submit a revised application to expand its restaurant, perhaps asking for 150 seats, and a new application for the proposed function centre.
OUT FOR THE COUNT?
MEMBERS of Red Hill Community Action have been counting cars at T'Gallant for many months in an attempt to force the shire to crack down on alleged permit breaches.
On a typical summer weekend day – Saturday, January 12 – RHCA said there were 104 vehicles (50 in the main car park, 44 in the rear car park plus a 50-seat bus, and eight cars and a motorbike beside Mornington-Flinders Road) at 2.30pm.
The action group estimated two people per car, 50 on the bus and one person on the motorbike for a total of 255. Assuming staff of 20, this meant 235 people were in the restaurant and cellar door areas.
"T'Gallant can have 60 in the restaurant and 40 in the cellar door area, so our figures show T'Gallant exceeded its permit by 135 people," a spokesman said.
"They are permitted 40 vehicles but exceeded this by more than 60."
Council watcher Joe Lenzo of Safety Beach said: "If the shire vigorously enforced planning restrictions with proactive inspections, applicants such as T'Gallant would have less grounds for arguing for existing use in the VCAT."
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